​Cross-border tax information bill a good one according to industry leaders

20 May 2014

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​Cross-border tax information bill a good one according to industry leaders

Recent hearings on the implementation of a new tax-information sharing bill heard a leader of Canada’s investment industry recommend the acceptance of a bill.
“Simply put, deferral of the Canadian legislative package this close to the July 1, 2014 implementation deadline would place a more costly and difficult compliance burden on Canada’s investment industry and expose Canadian financial institutions and investors to penalties and sanctions that would severely impede access to the U.S. marketplace,” said Ian Russell, chief executive of the Investment Industry Association of Canada, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday.
A week earlier the NDP had called on the government to delay the legislation ahead of the implementation date of July 1. The NDP argued that passing the tax information sharing agreement legislation would see sensitive information of Canadians citizens shuttled south of the border.
The bill is designed to comply with the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and will result in the U.S. government receiving “sensitive” personal and financial information of about one million Canadians who hold duel citizenship.
Mr. Russell told legislators the bill “embeds the best possible tax-reporting framework for Canadian investors and their investment dealers” and should be passed.